That Fury In You
by moonswirl
Summary: Gleekathon, day six hundred and thirty-eight: He appreciates the help, but Puck can't help worrying about her being on the football field.


_Started my daily ficlets to make the hiatus pass, then decided to keep going with a 2nd cycle, and then a 3rd, 4th, etc through 30th cycle. Now cycle 31!_

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><p><strong>Hear that little bird twitter!<strong> _Been thinking about doing this for a couple days, then this morning decided to just go for it. If you go there, find 'gleekathon' and there I'll be. There's also a video explaining everything... Yep... ;) Check it out!_

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><p><strong>"That Fury In You"<br>Puck &/+ Rachel**

**[A/N: This story is dedicated to the wondrous mag721! Happy birthday darlin'! :D] **

It had taken a moment or two for him to start thinking about what Rachel and the others were suggesting, really think about it… joining the football team to bail them out. At first he guessed he just thought they weren't really going to do it, or something, but before long he knew it was no joke… they were doing this. They may have said they wouldn't actually play, that they would lie down, but that did not guarantee anything, once the game started. He knew that, and at that moment he wasn't sure if they did… well, one of them. He knew Lauren would be fine, and he was pretty sure Mercedes would be, too. Tina he knew would be fine too, somehow, and either way he imagined Mike would keep an eye on her… No matter how it was played, he knew there was only one of those four girls that would worry him, that he'd write off the others immediately as being safe, but her…

He went looking for Rachel and finally he tracked her down, sitting in the Glee room, her newly acquired football gear laid out before her, all except the helmet. That one piece sat in her lap, front forward, the better for her to stick something on it… "What are you doing?" he asked. She looked up, surprised for a moment but then turning the helmet around with a smile. She had fixed gold stars to the front.

"I can't wait to go out there," she told him, turning the helmet back toward herself to inspect it before placing it among the other items. Her jersey had the number one on it… of course.

"Yeah, about that," he came to sit next to her.

"I'm so glad Blaine told us about this so we could help. I mean it would have just sucked if you guys didn't get to play because of everything that's happened," she shook her head.

"Rachel…" he tried to get her attention back, but then he understood she'd been dodging.

"I know what you're going to say," she toned down her excitement. "You don't want us to play."

"No, I don't have a problem with the others, it's you," he clarified, which only made her sigh.

"I'm going to be lying down, it's fine," she insisted.

"Doesn't matter which way you are if a guy falls on you at full speed, or mistakes your sparkle helmet for the ball," he pointed out. Now she looked like he'd succeeded in spooking her. "I'm not here to tell you not to join," he revealed, masking the fact that maybe that had been his intention when he'd first walked in. But then in just one minute she had gone and swayed him. And at that same time he had come to the realization maybe stopping her wasn't the right answer… and he knew what he should do instead. She looked at him, her eyes saying 'you're not?' She frowned.

"So what are you saying then?" He hesitated, looking around to her gear.

"I'm saying you could get yourself hurt, or worse… and I'm not going to let that happen, so… I'm going to have to do what I can to get you ready for this," he looked over at her, and she smiled, excited again.

"That's probably a good idea, actually… Great idea," she nodded.

"Okay, are you good to put on all that?" he gestured to the things on the floor. She looked over, and he didn't need to hear her answer. "Get up," he instructed, doing that himself.

"I'm not going to just…" she started, with her blush not on her cheeks but in her voice.

"Relax, okay? I'm not here to peep," he promised, moving to close the doors. He came back to stand near her though he kept his back turned as he told her what to do. There were a few moments where he had to find a way to see the item before he could point it out to her, which led to some protests on her part. "Do you want to do this alone?" he would say, and she would quiet right up. "Right," he finally was able to turn when all that was left was the jersey and the helmet. She put those on as well… he laughed.

"What now?" she frowned, exasperated. "Did I put something on backwards?" she asked, looking down at herself as best she could. He took a step and then another, forcing her to look back up.

"You're all set," he promised, and she smiled, pleased with herself.

"Good, now what?" she asked, getting pumped up already.

"Drop," he instructed, and she looked puzzled. "Drop," he repeated, indicating the floor.

"Oh!" she remembered her vow to just lie down when the play would start, and she took a dive… Even padded, the crash was met with a whimper. "Ow…"

"You okay?" he crouched at her side, trying to see her face. She turned her head, helmet and all.

"Yeah," she nodded.

"Maybe we should go out on the field or something," he suggested.

"Maybe," she agreed. He offered both his hands and she let him pull her up. They left the Glee room, and as they went through the halls he could see loads of curious and amused faces turn toward them… Rachel Berry dressed up to play football was probably as strange a sight as they'd seen in… well, McKinley's halls tended to see more than enough oddities, but even by that standard this was massive. Puck met each of those stares and turned them back though, guiding Rachel toward the field. At least at this point the place was empty, leaving them to do as they pleased.

"Should we try again?" he asked, and again she looked lost, so he repeated. "Drop." She didn't wait, taking her dive with a small yelp of uneasiness – she knew how the last time had ended.

"How was that?" she asked, turning her head.

"Keep your head down," he told her, and she quickly tucked her head back down.

"What if I get kicked?" her voice echoed from under the helmet. "My neck could break… I could be decapitated!" she escalated.

"Stop, you're going to hyperventilate," he crouched, putting a hand on her back.

"Right, I'm sorry," the helmet bobbed to show she was nodding.

"I'm not going to let anything happen to you, okay? It's the least I can do for what you and the other girls are doing," he told her, and he could feel her calming down.

"You can't just stand next to me the whole game," she still pointed out.

"I'm not going to do that, not if we want to win," he tried to make her laugh and succeeded. "You're going to look after yourself," he went on. "And if they get too close, then you have permission to go all crazy ninja on them. You're kind of scary when you're all… energized, you know?"

"Yes," she was smirking; he could hear it in her voice.

"You'll probably get the urge at one point to get up and charge at someone… Resist the urge," he begged. She made a sound like she didn't believe him. "I mean it, now promise."

"I promise," she lifted her head.

"Right, well just in case, after this we'll see about your running."

It didn't seem like much, her lying there, but he tried to give her as much context so she might be able to make sure not to 'get decapitated.' He got her running, didn't let her stop doing anything unless he was sure, that she would be okay. It wasn't even a game, but she was pumped and ready to charge… she was ready. Maybe he couldn't be by her side the whole game, but he'd find a way to make sure nothing happened to her, one way or another.

THE END

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><p><strong>AN: This is a one-shot ficlet, which means that signing up for story alert will not bring you any alerts.  
><strong>**In the event of a sequel, the story will be separate from this one. And as chapter stories go, they are  
><strong>******always clearly indicated as such [ex: "Days 204-210" in the summary] Thank you!******


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